An Alternative Way To Approach Music-video Tv

Looking for something a little different in music-video television shows? You might try ``Snub TV,`` a 30-minute program that is part of the USA Network`s ``Night Flight`` cable offering.

Formerly seen every other Saturday, ``Snub`` was to be shifted to 11:30 p.m. every other Friday-with a repeat at 3:30 a.m. Saturday-beginning this Friday. (It wouldn`t hurt to check your TV Guide listings before tuning in.)

``Snub`` presents a biweekly bill of fare that is definitely not the sort of stuff you`ll see on ``Friday Night Videos.`` Tapping indie-label and unsigned bands from around the world, ``Snub`` in recent weeks has presented videos by New York City`s Swans, Germany`s Phillip Boa and the Voodoo Club, Scotland`s Fizzbombs and England`s Brilliant Corners, among others.

The goals of ``Snub`` are twofold: (1) to provide viewers with an alternative to MTV and broadcast music-video programming, and (2) to give independent-label bands television exposure they might not otherwise receive. The show certainly accomplishes those aims. What other program has brought you an appearance by the Cookie Crew, England`s only all-woman rap group, or the Sugarcubes, an avant-pop outfit from Iceland?

In time-honored ``alternative`` fashion, however, ``Snub`` does not offer much in the way of production values. While some of the videos match the technical proficiency of major-label-financed ventures, others have a definite bad-home-movie look, either by design (an anti-slickness statement) or necessity (a lack of cash).

The produced-in-London show, which has no spiffy set or whiz-bang graphics displays, is hosted by British veejay Brenda Kelly, whose

undemonstrative demeanor is the antithesis of flash.

The show`s music falls into the broad ``alternative`` category but exhibits a number of influences, among them funk, punk and industrial-noise dance sounds. Indie labels are just as capable as major labels of producing uninteresting music, so while some of the acts on ``Snub`` turn out an engaging sound-in recent weeks Boa and the Voodoo Club, New Zealand`s Chills and England`s Motorcycle Boy-others might not strike your fancy.

Still, they are there for you to see and sample. Assuming, that is, you are up and about late at night. If not, there`s always your trusty VCR.

Figuring that many people might be taping the show, ``Snub TV`` offers, for $10, a ``Snub`` T-shirt and bumper sticker and a six-month subscription to brief, video-cassette-size sleeve notes about the artists on each show.